High-value supply chains, food standards and poor farmers in developing countries: the case of vegetable exports from Senegal

This paper studies the welfare effects of high-value FFV exports from Senegal to the EU. We analyze how the structure of the export supply chain has changed in response to tightening food standards and investigate the impact for the local population. The study yields four important findings. First, we find that public and private food standards in the EU have lead to increased consolidation and increased vertical coordination in the FFV supply chain with a shift away from smallholder contract-based production to integrated estate production. Second, these structural changes have increased the participation of rural households, and especially poorer households, in the supply chains through wage employment on FFV estates. Third, we find that household participation in FFV export production, whether through contract-farming or through estate wage employment, generates significant income gains. Fourth, high-value FFV trade has a major impact on rural poverty-reduction and the increasing prevalence of food standards is even enhancing this impact.International Relations/Trade,

A TRUSTED ECOSYSTEM IN AGRI-FOOD SUPPLY CHAIN WITH TRACEABILITY POTENTIALS OF BLOCKCHAIN TECHNOLOGY

The complexity in the Agri-Food Supply Chain (AFSC) has made the traceability of causes of disease difficult in the supply chain. Stakeholders in this supply chain have been adopting centralized systems of traceability that are prone to manipulations and single-point attacks. But as advancement is rapidly driving Information and Communication Technologies (ICT), researchers have attempted to apply the potentials of blockchain technology in the agri-food industry. A fundamental component of blockchain is a smart contract which is mostly challenged with the problem of conflict resolution among contracting parties. This paper investigates the phenomenon and proposes a conceptual framework to drive future practical researches in this field. An algorithm was also developed to address the conflict resolution challenges in the supply chain as it was identified to be one of the major challenges causing stakeholders’ skepticism on the acceptability of blockchain technology in AFSC.The complexity in the Agri-Food Supply Chain (AFSC) has made the traceability of causes of disease difficult in the supply chain. Stakeholders in this supply chain have been adopting centralized systems of traceability that are prone to manipulations and single-point attacks. But as advancement is rapidly driving Information and Communication Technologies (ICT), researchers have attempted to apply the potentials of blockchain technology in the agri-food industry. A fundamental component of blockchain is a smart contract which is mostly challenged with the problem of conflict resolution among contracting parties. This paper investigates the phenomenon and proposes a conceptual framework to drive future practical researches in this field. An algorithm was also developed to address the conflict resolution challenges in the supply chain as it was identified to be one of the major challenges causing stakeholders’ skepticism on the acceptability of blockchain technology in AFSC

A TRUSTED ECOSYSTEM IN AGRI-FOOD SUPPLY CHAIN WITH TRACEABILITY POTENTIALS OF BLOCKCHAIN TECHNOLOGY

The complexity in the Agri-Food Supply Chain (AFSC) has made the traceability of causes of disease difficult in the supply chain. Stakeholders in this supply chain have been adopting centralized systems of traceability that are prone to manipulations and single-point attacks. But as advancement is rapidly driving Information and Communication Technologies (ICT), researchers have attempted to apply the potentials of blockchain technology in the agri-food industry. A fundamental component of blockchain is a smart contract which is mostly challenged with the problem of conflict resolution among contracting parties. This paper investigates the phenomenon and proposes a conceptual framework to drive future practical researches in this field. An algorithm was also developed to address the conflict resolution challenges in the supply chain as it was identified to be one of the major challenges causing stakeholders’ skepticism on the acceptability of blockchain technology in AFSC.The complexity in the Agri-Food Supply Chain (AFSC) has made the traceability of causes of disease difficult in the supply chain. Stakeholders in this supply chain have been adopting centralized systems of traceability that are prone to manipulations and single-point attacks. But as advancement is rapidly driving Information and Communication Technologies (ICT), researchers have attempted to apply the potentials of blockchain technology in the agri-food industry. A fundamental component of blockchain is a smart contract which is mostly challenged with the problem of conflict resolution among contracting parties. This paper investigates the phenomenon and proposes a conceptual framework to drive future practical researches in this field. An algorithm was also developed to address the conflict resolution challenges in the supply chain as it was identified to be one of the major challenges causing stakeholders’ skepticism on the acceptability of blockchain technology in AFSC

Digitalization in food supply chains: A bibliometric review and key-route main path analysis

Technological advances such as blockchain, artificial intelligence, big data, social media, and geographic information systems represent a building block of the digital transformation that supports the resilience of the food supply chain (FSC) and increases its efficiency. This paper reviews the literature surrounding digitalization in FSCs. A bibliometric and key-route main path analysis was carried out to objectively and analytically uncover the knowledge development in digitalization within the context of sustainable FSCs. The research began with the selection of 2140 articles published over nearly five decades. Then, the articles were examined according to several bibliometric metrics such as year of publication, countries, institutions, sources, authors, and keywords frequency. A keyword co-occurrence network was generated to cluster the relevant literature. Findings of the review and bibliometric analysis indicate that research at the intersection of technology and the FSC has gained substantial interest from scholars. On the basis of keyword co-occurrence network, the literature is focused on the role of information communication technology for agriculture and food security, food waste and circular economy, and the merge of the Internet of Things and blockchain in the FSC. The analysis of the key-route main path uncovers three critical periods marking the development of technology-enabled FSCs. The study offers scholars a better understanding of digitalization within the agri-food industry and the current knowledge gaps for future research. Practitioners may find the review useful to remain ahead of the latest discussions of technologyenabled FSCs. To the authors’ best knowledge, the current study is one of the few endeavors to explore technology-enabled FSCs using a comprehensive sample of journal articles published during the past five decades

IOF2020: Fostering business and software ecosystems for large-scale uptake of IoT in food and farming

The Internet of Things (IoT) is expected to be a real game changer that will drastically improve productivity and sustainability in food and farming. However, current IoT applications in this domain are still fragmentary and mainly used by a small group of early adopters. The Internet of Food and Farm 2020 Large-Scale Pilot (IoF2020) addresses the organizational and technological challenges to overcome this situation by fostering a large-scale uptake of IoT in the European food and farming domain. The heart of the project is formed by a balanced set of multi-actor trials that reflect the diversity of the food and farming domain. Each trial is composed of well-delineated use cases developing IoT solutions for the most relevant challenges of the concerned subsector. The project conducts 5 trials with a total of 19 use cases in arable, dairy, fruits, vegetables and meat production. IoF2020 embraces a lean multi-actor approach that combines the development of Minimal Viable Products (MVPs) in short iterations with the active involvement of various stakeholders. The architectural approach supports interoperability of multiple use case systems and reuse of IoT components across them. Use cases are also supported in developing business and solving governance issues. The IoF2020 ecosystem and collaboration space is established to boost the uptake of IoT in Food and Farming and pave the way for new innovations

Management of food cold chains traceability amid the COVID-19 pandemic

The present article considers the functioning of food supply chains and their major component — a continuous cold chain of perishable food products, including meat products, under the conditions of COVID‑19 pandemic. The issues of the impact of the pandemic on production, processing and commercial supply of meat and meat products in Russia and worldwide are being considered. The traceability of temperature fluctuations in meat processing plants is relevant; it becomes an increasingly important factor for efficient logistics to provide the best supply and to keep the food safe in the current conditions. Research data is presented here. The results of the research show that frozen foods serve as carriers and distributors of SARS-CoV‑2 infection without any contact between people. This conclusion highlights additional challenges in controlling the spread of COVID‑19 worldwide, and reveals the mechanism of the disease transmission, taking into account the peculiarities of temperature modes during storage and transportation of perishable meat products. The risks of food cold chains functioning under the conditions of pandemic, the adaptive strategies for their mitigation and logistical systems of tracking are considered, in particular, the application of various data technologies

The Digitalisation of African Agriculture Report 2018-2019

An inclusive, digitally-enabled agricultural transformation could help achieve meaningful livelihood improvements for Africa’s smallholder farmers and pastoralists. It could drive greater engagement in agriculture from women and youth and create employment opportunities along the value chain. At CTA we staked a claim on this power of digitalisation to more systematically transform agriculture early on. Digitalisation, focusing on not individual ICTs but the application of these technologies to entire value chains, is a theme that cuts across all of our work. In youth entrepreneurship, we are fostering a new breed of young ICT ‘agripreneurs’. In climate-smart agriculture multiple projects provide information that can help towards building resilience for smallholder farmers. And in women empowerment we are supporting digital platforms to drive greater inclusion for women entrepreneurs in agricultural value chains